Prahlad Jani allegedly lives 15 days without food or water under surveillance

In 2006 I wrote a short article about Prahlad Jani, an Indian yogi who claims he can live without eating or even drinking. The news at that time were driven by another alleged “breatharian”, Ram Bahadur Bamjan, then a 16 year old boy, who was meditating for six months at that time. ﻿

Recently, Prahlad Jani returned to the major news after he was again under a 15-day surveillance in a hospital to verify his claims of not eating and drinking.﻿

There are many sources about the latest tests. Here are some links to learn more:

Prahlad Jani, 83, who says he has not had a bite to eat for 70 years, was put under constant surveillance to test his astonishing claims by a team of 30 military medical staff.

During a 15 day stay in a hospital in the city of Ahmedabad, India — he astounded doctors by not eating, drinking or going to the bathroom.

The person claims to not have eaten for 70 years. That’s quite a hard claim to swallow, frankly. A 15-day surveillance sounds good but the suspicious fact here is that the 2003 study and this one were conducted by the same hospital in Ahmedabad, the Sterling hospital. I think it was even the same crew leading researcher, Dr. Sudhir Shah.

What is new this time is that 1) the test was longer (15 days and not 10) and 2) that the study initiated by India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). I hope they’re not as naïve as to let the hospital run the test without overseeing it themselves.

So, it is interesting news and it would be better, more reliable, if this man was tested by some western hospital, to reduce the chance of fraud by co-operating.

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5 Comments

pushkar
on January 9, 2011 at 3:34 pm

Mate, what do you mean by “it would be better, more reliable, if this man was tested by some western hospital” – this is insulting, my friend. In regards, to Jani, I do not think its a hoax. Indefinite? I don’t know. However hopefully medical science can unravel it – the consequences would be world-altering. To stretch a bit, imagine a world where food is not required!

Western medicine has a harsh history of failing and has relied on indigenous cultures to help formulate new medicines for years. I agree that it is not only disrespectful but also ignorant to say that western medicine is any better. This man is obviously beyond any scientific/medical explaination anyway. As are many things. The mind is a wonderful thing and a key in the development of man. spirituality is what binds the mind to physical and mental possibilities, as there is a strong belief which becomes reality as you know it.

Why did they stop at 15 days?? That period is impressive for water, though not for food. But it’s hardly conclusive. If no solid reason for stopping is given, it does make me very suspicious that the study is fraudulent as well as Prahlad Jani. Being fearful of him dieing would hardly be a solid reason for stopping. It would be quite easy to feed him by IV if he goes comatose.

On the other hand, just because it is amazing and unheard of doesn’t mean it is not true. There are many, many, things science doesn’t have a clue of, and this could be one. Science is good at establishing that something is probably true, but not that something is not true. For instance, just because something is not repeatable doesn’t mean it is false.

I assume the reason for concluding the test after 15 days was that the purpose was not to see whether Jani could survive indefinitely without food or water, but to help discover ways ordinary people trapped in disasters could survive longer without food or water. At least that’s what the articles I read seemed to indicate.

I’m pretty certain this isn’t a hoax. Herbert Benson from the Harvard Medical School studied monks performing Dzogchen meditation found that with “simple” meditation the monks were able to decrease their metabolism 64%. The secret practices that are passed on to one student at a time can no doubt achieve much more. After 70 years of practice who knows what changes to his body Jani has been able to make.